Leicester v Saints: Teams
Leicester boss Richard Cockerill insists his side must be at their best if they are to topple Northampton in the Premiership play-offs.
By Tony Curtis - Twitter: @SkySportsTC
Last Updated: 13/05/11 4:58pm
Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill insists his side must be at their best if they are to topple Northampton in the Aviva Premiership play-offs.
The Tigers finished the regular season at the top of the table and although that guaranteed them home advantage against the Saints, Cockerill is only too aware of the threat posed by the Heineken Cup finalists.
"Finishing top of the table shows we are a consistent side week in, week out. That is important for us, but now it all comes down to a semi-final and a big game against a Saints side which has proved to be one of the best in Europe this season," said Cockerill
"All four of the semi-finalists have finished the league season in good form and it promises to be a very interesting weekend.
"We'll have another big crowd in at Welford Road, it's an intense local derby with a big prize to play for, so we know we have to be at our best."
Cockerill has made two changes to his line-up, with Jordan Crane and Steve Mafi replacing the benched Thomas Waldrom and Ed Slater.
Massive
Northampton boss Jim Mallinder has restored his star men to the starting line-up for the trip to Welford Road.
Saints were given a scare by Leeds last time out before the appearance of Courtney Lawes, Dylan Hartley, Soane Tonga'uiha, Calum Clark, Bruce Reihana, Stephen Myler and Lee Dickson inspired a 31-24 victory.
As a result, all seven are handed starts along with centre Jon Clarke - while Tom Wood misses out through injury.
And Mallinder insists his side are up to the challenge of dethroning the reigning champions.
"It is going to be a massive game," explained Mallinder. "Leicester are a physical and direct side who have had a lot of success this season, and they have deservedly finished top of the table at the end of the 22 rounds. They are also the reigning champions, and know what it takes to win at this stage of the season.
"But while we know the size of the challenge we are not going to Welford Road just to make up the numbers.
"We have played some good rugby in recent matches and are going into the game in good spirits.
"The players have prepared well this week and know that only their best performance will be good enough if we are to get a positive result against Leicester.
"We also know that individual awards will mean nothing if we don't play together as a team. At this stage of the season nothing else matters aside from winning matches and that is all we are caring about at this time."
Leicester: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Matt Smith, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Craig Newby (capt), 6 Tom Croft, 5 George Skivington, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 George Chuter, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Rob Hawkins, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Thomas Waldrom, 21 James Grindal, 22 Jeremy Staunton, 23 Horacio Agulla.
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Jon Clarke, 12 James Downey, 11 Bruce Reihana, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Phil Dowson, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman,17 Alex Waller, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Stuart Commins, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Joe Ansbro.
